An Eerie Feeling
by kishaz
Summary: Sometimes relying on your gut feeling isn't the best thing to do, and Sora learns this the hard way during a game of hide and seek at a friend's party. WIP, RxS, AxR, and a few mini pairings in between. Rated M just in case.
1. Prologue

A.N/ Hey everyone, it's meeeeeeee I've been working on this since December, and I'm a little nervous on putting it up but... Nhn.  
I got inspired to do this during August, and watching the show "A Haunting" Only increased my urge to create it. Some things might be a little irrelevant, but I did my best to do some good research. It was kinda difficult, but eh. What in life isn't?  
So... Please enjoy this... fanfic. If you can.

Shayra

* * *

It is a dark and rainy night, much like most nights when strange goings-on occur; the sky is shrouded with thick, black clouds, rain tumbling from them with minor intensity. Grass is shimmering slick from the shower, lights of old-fashioned street lamps casting shadows and lights onto a Victorian Mansion nearby. Aside from the Freestar ford making its way up the cobblestone driveway; it looked like a scene from the eighteen hundreds.

The doors of said minivan opened up automatically, a team of men making their way out of it, some with equipment, others who seemed to have a sort of 'holy' aura towards them. With sober, but firm postures, they make their way up to the glossy, mahogany doors. The tall, almost intimidating building looms over them gloomily, but it doesn't deter a man in a black suit from reaching out to a rose-shaped door knocker. Before he could grab it, the door creaks open in a low, tone which quickly grows into a high squeak. The party doesn't back away, though, but enters with confidence.

"Good evening, friend. We have come to speak with you again." A man with wispy, grey hair called out in a friendly voice. His tone most certainly didn't suit the atmosphere around them; the foyer is washed in a cold blue tone from the weather outside. "We wish to talk with you today."  
The room responds with a long silence, aside from the rain knocking on the windows.

Any normal man would soon feel foolish and turn away. But soon, the sound of paper ripping is heard in the room. The group of men turn their attention towards a nearby wall. Words were being carved into the wallpaper:  
_Talk? What is there to talk about, the weather?_

The old man, who is the owner of the house, laughs lightly in response. "Although it's rather nice out tonight," A few younger men with equipment scowl at this, "We have come to talk to you about your current existence. We want to help you."  
_Help? No one can help me… _Unbeknownst to the party, pictures hanging on the walls unhook themselves from the walls. None of them seem to notice.

"Of course we can, friend!" The old man cried optimistically. One of the men with an EMF detector nudges him, "Um, sir—"  
"Don't interrupt me." He mutters firmly to the other before going back to his conversation. "Show yourself to us, and we can help you!"_  
None of you are worthy to see me unless you can win my game._

"….Game?" A black suited man frowns. "What sort of game….?"

"Would someone please listen to me?" The man with the EMF detector frowns.

"It isn't important." The 'leader' of the pack growls in response to the EMF detector.  
"But—"  
"No. Now tell us, R—my friend, what are we playing?"

…_Frisbee. _

"THE EMF METER'S AT TEN, YOU FOOLS!" the man cries, but it is too late. The pictures that are hovering in mid-air at the moment flip horizontally and start to spin.

"If you won't listen to reason, fine!" The owner of the house shouts, "In the name of our Lord and Savoir, we command you to leave this house!"  
Upon the words, the pictures clatter to the ground, some of the glass crackling a little upon the impact. A sigh seemed to be removed from the group, that is, until the EMF detector glances down at the device.

"….Its still at ten." His voice is barely over a whisper.

Only seconds after the words were uttered, the two doors of the mansion slam open. The wall where messages were previously being written is being scratched up furiously with illegible scribbles which look vaguely like symbols. The room gains a sudden chill.

A man holding a video camera stumbles back quickly in horror. "I-I'm leavin'," He utters quickly, fleeing out through the open doors. One by one, the people run from the scene. Finally, the man with wispy hair follows out. "We'll be back," He shouts into the house once he is outside. The mansion responds by slamming the doors shut tight.

"'At was too close," The camera man puffs, "I'm not doin' this no more."  
"Same here. I'm off this case." The EMF detector murmurs. One by one, the group agrees.

"What is making you all so terrified?! I'm sure you've dealt with worse!" The owner fumes. The camera man steps up and holds out his camera. "Take a look."  
As the man views the film, his eyes hold mostly boredom. When the messages were appearing on the wall, a cloaked figure was standing in front of them, writing out the words with what seemed to be a kitchen knife. He was seen unhooking the picture frames, and writing out the other points in the message. He was seen strolling around the EMF detector teasingly. None of this deterred the owner, however. "I've seen this boy many times in the other videos! He isn't that harmle—"

The pictures clattered to the ground. The figure let go of the knife, which stayed in its current position in surprise, before gaining an enraged look. The knife began to write on its own, and the cloaked figure walked towards the camera, looking at the lens intently. His figure flickered in a glowing state a few times as he walked, before finally stopping in front of the camera. His body illuminated completely. "In the name of me, the REAL owner of this house, I command you to leave." The owner stumbled back a little, much like the camera man did.

"D'you sees the points where 'e flickers? 'At was when I could actually see 'em. And look," The camera man grabs the device and waits for a moment, before pausing the camera and handing it back to the priest. It stopped at a point when the wall with the writing was in clear view.

"So? It's just a bunch of scribbles on a wall." The owner of the house mutters. The camera man shakes his head. "Are you stupid?! Mirror the image." He presses a button on the digital camera, and the image flips. The once- scribbled symbols turn into a scrawled sort of writing: _  
If another mortal dares to enter this house again, their soul and body will be mine for the taking, as well as any more to come._  
The owner stares at the message for a long time. Finally, after a long pause, he sighs. "This house is too dangerous for anyone to keep."


	2. Ch 1: Downhill From Here

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix or Disney. I do not make a profit off of this story, nor do I wish to because if I do, then I'll get in trouble. As well, if I owned Kingdom Hearts, for sure for sure there'd be a lot more interraction with Organization XIII members. And it would be humorous interraction too. The hell, I'm ranting in a disclaimer. Well this is a new one.

A.N/ Yope. I've had this written since the prologue (originally, prologue and this were supposed to be together) but I thought it would be nice to break stuff off. This chapter, too, has been broken off from a larger extension. Taking it a day at a time so I don't overwhelm the storyline, you know? So, what the few of you have been waiting for, hope I didn't come to disappoint, chapter one: Downhill From Here.

P.S. If you've recieved three alerts in your email already on this chapter, I'm terribly sorry... One of the symbols I was using in a form of speech got deleted and I had to redo it all over again. Careless editing on my part, though. Sorry. Again. --'

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The next two weeks, the mansion is set up to be torn down. However, each time they attempt to do so, a disaster strikes. Equipment fails, people get injuries, and there was even a casualty from a demolishing ball. Indeed, the owner of the house went to great lengths to try and destroy the house so he could rebuild a new one, but something always got in the way. So, finally admitting defeat, he boards up the house and moves out of the city, hoping to convince some gullible couple or family who would take up the house for his own.

--------------

"So, we're heading out for ice cream today, right?" A bubbly brunette girl asked as she walked out of the school with her posse. She tugged down at her blue kilt absent-mindedly while she walked. A girl with burgundy hair and azure eyes loosens her tie a little. She smiles at the brunette and nods. "Of course, we always do on Thursdays, Selph." Both girls were in grade seven, moving on to grade eight in a couple of weeks if they passed the 'advancement' exam.

Another brunette, this time a boy, sighed and looked down at the cuffs of his navy blue dress pants. "I can't make it today, I have somewhere to be." His hair, which normally stuck up in many different angles, seemed to gain a slight limp look to it. He was in grade eight.

"'Ay, Man, you can't just quit on us like dat." Another boy, taller then the brunette by at least two heads whined. He had fiery red hair and mocha tanned skin. This one was in grade nine.

"Let him be, Wakka." The azure-eyed girl, who was named Kairi, placed a soft hand on the other's shoulder. "I'm sure he has his reasons."  
"Well, whatever they are, you'd better be free next Thursday." Another teen stated almost playfully, but behind it his tone is a little solemn and understanding. His hair is silky and pale, but it spikes down a little near his shoulders. His sea green eyes held a little bit of sympathy past the confident look they had. He too was in grade eight.  
Sora looked up a little and smiled a sad smile towards the other teen. "Don't worry Repliku, I'll be there." He bounced up a little on his heels so the backpack he was carrying wouldn't fall off, walking down the street to his left. Repliku opened his mouth and called, "Sora, wait—", but was cut off by said student.

"I-I'll see you tomorrow," he called back, his voice a little shaky, before running away. Repliku stretched out his hand hopelessly, as if it would stop his friend, but he soon realized it was useless and walked to his bus-stop, which was to the right of where he was standing.

Clouds were gathered in the sky, painting it a dull, white-grey. Crows flocked in the wilting trees, cawing a hollow sort of song. Sora, however, kept walking on, keeping his eyes glued to the ground. He felt like crying; he had all day, and he had no idea why. This happened a lot to the brunette, though, so he thought it was abnormal and kept telling himself to toughen up. "Your life isn't that bad… Your life isn't that bad…" Sora kept repeating the mantra, as if it would make his world suddenly bright and happy.

He was so focused on not breaking down in public that, when he finally looked up, he realized he was in an entirely different neighbourhood.

'Oh no,' he thought, pausing to retrace his steps. The way he was walking didn't seem wrong; he was taking all the right turns and crosses. He was sure everything was correct, which made him frantic; until he remembered the direction he took from leaving the schoolyard. "….I was supposed to go the other way!" He cried, picking up his backpack and aimlessly trying to run back to the school. But, because of the complicated turns and crosses he made beforehand, he only got himself hopelessly lost.

The student's vision blurred while he ran. Trees, gates, grass, crows, an old lady raking up leaves in her yard… They all flew past his eyes with little purpose. Fifteen minutes into losing himself his running slowed into a slow trudge, which stopped completely. He looked around hopelessly, sighing in semi relief when no one was there. A dull, brick fence gave Sora the opportunity to slump down against it, his backpack scraping against it as he did so.

Taking another look about, and, knowing the coast was clear, he let a few tears slip from his eyes onto his knees silently, only leaving two tiny, almost inaudible taps in their wake. It didn't stop there, however, and soon the brunette's body was shivering with clumsily-covered up sobs.

If you took a look around the neighbourhood, it was quite a cheerful-looking place; bright, freshly clipped lawns with few leaves scattered upon them, but not completely raked up. The houses were painted in appealing colors, and an air of 'harvest' seemed to float around from gardens in back yards. No one was outside on the dull-skied day, as Sora observed twice beforehand, and the block was quiet. It was truly a wonderful place, aside from the house locked inside the brick fence Sora was sitting against.

A tall, intimidating mansion stood behind the fence, guarded by a black-metal gate, curves all spinning about around it to meet with a sharp point. On the front of it, stood a thick, heavy lock; though it served no real purpose since the real thing keeping the gate closed was a chrome chain and padlock. Past the gate led to a cobblestone drive way lined with black, old-fashioned street lamps.

The house itself was built up with grey bricks on the bottom trim, mahogany wood making up the majority of the mansion's hold. The windows were dull and dusted, shrouded by black curtains on the inside of the house. The tiles of the roof were a cool grey. There were three floors, three windows peaking up at the roof. All of these factors contributed to the silently screamed phrase 'creepy', and that wasn't even counting the dull, wooden planks that boarded up the abode.

"Hey, kid." Upon being called upon, Sora perked up in surprise, wiping his eyes quickly and looking up.

"This is private property." There, someone about fifteen or sixteen years old was sitting on the wall. A black cloak with a silver zipper and other hanging ornaments hid his identity, a deep hood hiding his face and eyes. Sora stood up quickly and brushed off his pants. "S-sorry sir, I really didn't know. I got lost, see, and I—"

"You don't belong here. Get out." The teen demanded, slightly louder this time, though he made no move to get off the wall. His voice seemed distant, somewhat hollow, and it freaked Sora out to no end. "C-could you tell me the way to Winston Heights?" He asked, hoping that, by some whim, the creepy-looking teen would help him.

"Why should I help you?" he asked in a more-than-threatening voice, standing up quickly and throwing out his hands. Sora stumbled back further, shocked and scared, searching the dark 'cave' of the hood the teen was wearing for some form of sympathy while his eyes continued to swim with tears. He could have just run off, but something was keeping him there.  
"…Please…" He whimpered.

The figure was quiet for a moment, looking over the brunette hesitantly before dropping his shoulders. "…Two blocks down, take a left, I… think. I haven't been there for a long time." A tiny smile reached his face when Sora's lit up in gratitude.  
"…My name is Riku. Can you say 'Riku'?" the other asked in a playful tone, pointing to a tree. Sora gave him a weird look, turning around hesitantly and scrutinizing the towering plant with a frown before turning back to the wall. This fellow, this… 'Riku', was gone.

--------------

"Yeah, it was… really creepy." Sora spoke into the phone and rolled over onto his back so he could stare at the oddly textured ceiling.

-I don't get it, Sora, tell me again.-  
"Gah, Repliku, you never get _anything!_" the brunette whined back, aimlessly tossing a stuffed pink-and-green dinosaur at the roof. It plopped back two feet from his toes.  
-It's not _my_ fault, you never make sense.- the retort was playful and teasing.  
"It isn't my fault you don't listen." Sora let out an aggravated sigh. "Okay, so, I was trying to go home 'cause I wasn't feeling the best."  
-kay.-  
"Is that all you can say?" Sora whined. "Repliku, you're heartless."  
-I know.-  
"Okay, so have you ever walked the route home looking down at the ground?"

-Yeah...-  
"Well I did that. So I was taking all the turns I should have been taking—"

-But because you went left instead of right, you got lost.-  
"Exactly!" Sora cried, sitting up abruptly. "So I got lost, and because I wasn't feeling too well in the first place, so I sat down beside a wall to think things through."  
-You mean you sat down beside the wall and had a mental breakdown.- the response came out concerned, but had an uncertain playful tint to it, just in case Sora could laugh it off.

"Exactl—Heyy!" Sora crossed his arms. "Who's the one telling the story?"  
There came a soft chuckle. -You are. Go ahead, keep going.-  
"Anyway, this guy says 'Hey, this is my property, git-fo' or something like that. So I look up, and there's a guy wearing this creepy black cloaky thing sitting on the wall! I didn't even hear him! So I jumped back, and was all, 'I'm sorry, I didn't know' but then he starts yelling at me like… Like I'm a race he doesn't like or something."  
-So why didn't you just run off?-

Sora drew to a blank. Why **didn't **he run off? Well of course, he was lost, but he could have easily retraced his steps or asked someone else. It was obvious the man was going to hurt him if he stayed.

So why did he?

"I-I was lost," He said quickly, "Remember that. So I asked for directions. Then he stood up and shouted at me again. Then he kinda looked at me weirdly and told me how to get back to the school, and then was all 'My name is Riku—"

-Wait wait, Riku?!-

"It couldn'tve been your brother." Sora insisted sadly. "He would have been older then that… Sorry."

-…I-its fine.- the replier covered up any disappointment with a hesitant laugh. He ran off a long time ago anyway, Sora, I don't care about him anymore.

"Ah…well, after, he pointed at a tree. I turned around to see what he was looking at, but there was nothing, so I went back to ask him, but he was gone!"

-Ooh, scary.- Repliku replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Sora! Dinner!" a feminine voice called up the stairs. Sora perked up with a bright smile. "Sorry Repli, gotta go."  
-Yeah.- there was a pause. -Hey, Sora?-  
"Yeah?"  
-you mind taking me to that house sometime?-  
Sora smiled a little. If it would help Repliku find his brother, then… "Sure."  
-Thanks. Bye, Sora.-  
"Bye, Ku."  
-Do not!-

The response was a click and the 'busy' beep.


	3. Ch 2: Words sting like bees, you know

A/N: Hey everyone, sorry for the slow update. I've been getting bits and peices done over time, but here it is. I'm not too impressed with the results, the original copy got straight to the point. This is basically filler junk till we get to the real point in the story, I mean, you could live without it, but it's still nice to have character development.  
As for the school structure, I'll be writing a completely different fic that kind of focuses on that sort of idea. I don't know if you'll know what I mean, but if you do, then good for you. If you don't, then... Good for you anyway.  
A big thank you to all the readers out there, and especially the reviewers. You keep me going TTwTT  
Once again, thanks for being patient, and, as always, enjoy. If there's something you think I could improve on, I wouldn't mind hearing that.  
Shayla

* * *

"And one for you, Sora!" An envelope was waved in front of the brunette's face obnoxiously. Sora took it from the blonde and smiled faintly, "Thanks Tidus." he opened the envelope and looked it over. "So… it'll be next week?"  
"Yep! And don't bail out of it, its really important this time."

Sora laughed in response. "Alright, alright. I know."  
"Alright class, get back in your seats, nutro is over." a pointing stick was 'rat-a-tat-tat'ed on a desk in the front of the room. The class continued to murmur and joke and talk, most completely ignoring the teacher.

"Damn kids and their lack of respect," the teacher muttered under his breath before looking up, the wrinkles and stiff angles of his visage clearly showing his frustration. "The more time you waste visiting, the more time you will be spending with me after school, so shut your pie holes and get back to your seats!" he bellowed. The class didn't bother to take a second glance at him. His pale blonde bangs seemed to frazzle a little in anger and he clenched his fists, ready to storm out. A man in his mid-twenties with brunette-pink hair and a charming aura stood up from a chair he was sitting in and placed a hand on the teacher's shoulder softly. "May I?"  
"Please." was the muttered response. Marluxia cleared his throat and smiled at the class. "Alright you guys, settle down. We have a lot of material to cover today, and we don't want to send you home with…." His grin widened. "… Homework."

The word homework got everyone's attention and they all flooded back to their seats. Marluxia smiled brightly. "Alright class, today we'll be covering more on simple machines." He picked up a stack of papers on Vexen's desk and began to pass them out. He stopped abruptly as he was about to hand the first sheet to a student.  
"My, my, what's this?" He looked over the stapled package with curiosity, "Why, I've never seen anything like them! These packages, they have HOLES in them! A new invention from NASA, I do believe. I think this'll come in handy for the class, right, Sora?" The class erupted in a small fit of laughter. Sora grinned back at the student teacher. "Of course. But you know me; I'm not one to try new technology."

"Aw, shucks." Marluxia pouted back at him before passing out the packages. "These sheets have holes for a reason, guys, use 'em."

"Thanks." Vexen murmured to Marluxia with a small smile as he sorted through his desk and paper work. He liked to keep things organized and on track.

Marluxia merely smiled and sat down beside the blonde, rubbing the teacher's tense shoulders. "So…. Does this mean I get to take you home tonight?" He whispered playfully into the blonde's ear. Vexen shivered and replied in an annoyed tone, "Not a chance.

"Psst…." Sora rolled his eyes and kept working.

"Psst, Sora…"

"What, Repli?" He hissed to the seat behind him where the silver-haired teen sat.

"What's the answer to Gears and Sprockets?"  
"Which letter?" Sora asked.

"Um, b."

"….Ask Kairi, I don't get that one."  
"You're pathetic."  
"I know."

From that point on, Sora was lost in his work. Though he looked a little air-headed, he was smart, and striving to become so in his worst subjects: Science, and math. He however, adored science, so he was working the hardest there. If you could possibly call it work, seeing as he wasn't trying too hard.

It seemed more time had flown past then he knew, for Marluxia had told them to put down their pencils twenty minutes into the period, which was fifty five minutes long. They had four classes in the morning, and four in the afternoon.

"Alright you guys, we're going to have an oral quiz now," the brunette pulled a Tupperware of candy from a messenger bag sitting on a chair, "So I know you guys are actually getting something from this."

As the student teacher leaned back on his desk, trying to think of a question, Vexen studied him curiously. His teaching methods were… all over the place, unorganized, unprepared from what he could see, and yet… He took a look at the students. Some were still doing work, some were doodling, but the majority had their eyes on the university student. The much more experienced teacher frowned; how this perverted delinquent could waltz in and catch the pupil's eyes like nothing was beyond him.

"Alright, I got one." Marluxia smiled a little and overlooked the class. "A class 3 lever requires you to put more work in then the lever is putting out. What then, is the purpose of a class 3 lever?"

A garden of hands shot up. The student teacher looked over the possible choices. "Mmmmm… Kairi."

The auburn haired girl lit up; Candy is candy. "A class 3 lever's purpose is to move the load faster." Her response was rewarded with a tossed orange sucker, which she caught quickly with a smile.

This quiz went on until everyone had a chance to answer, and a candy, that is, except for one student. A quiet blonde boy with windswept hair had yet to put in an answer. His icy blue eyes, an almost carbon match to Sora's, held uncertainty. Marluxia eyed him carefully and put the candy down. "I can't come up with any more questions. Anybody got one?" He looked over the eager class. "Hm…. Selphie?"

"Alright," the brunette cleared her throat, "A doorknob is something you use every day. It contains two parts: A wheel, which is the turnable part, and the fixed point. What is the name of the fixed point?"

The class was silent, waiting for an answer from the student. After a long pause, he had still not given anything.

"C'mon Roxas, you know this." Marluxia encouraged. This only pressured the blonde more.

"Yeah Roxas," Sora piped, "You _got this memorized,_" Repliku gave Sora a semi-confused look; he didn't get Physics at all. He perked up suddenly when he knew what his friend was talking about.

"You should have had this _committed to memory, _it's easy to remember."

Soon, the class had erupted into hints, most of which had something to do with memory or capitals. Eventually, Roxas had a vague idea what they were talking about, and he frowned in annoyance. "The fixed point on a doorknob is called an… axle. This makes it a Wheel and Axle device."

"I wonder who the wheel is, then." Somebody muttered smugly. The class laughed in response. Even Marluxia was having a hard time keeping a straight face. Roxas glared down at his books before packing them up abruptly, and without another word, he fled the classroom. The students died silent as the door slammed shut.

--------------

Roxas clenched his fists silently as he shoved books into his locker. His class was built up on idiots. He looked around the hallway: empty. That was good.

"Retards," he muttered, slamming his locker door. It bounced back from the amount of force put into the swing.

But no one would care that he was upset.

After all, he was a nobody. Someone who wasn't connected to anyone in school, someone everyone despised. Why? Simple: because they were different.

The blonde put the messenger bag so it was sitting on his right side, the strap also on his right shoulder. He didn't carry it right for some reason, just another thing that made him weird. Running down the hall to his next class (gym—He looked forward to it, since they were playing basketball and he was actually good at it) and took a corner to the second gym locker room—

And bumped into the back of one of the most feared students in the school, Larxene. Dressed in the regular attire of a black trench coat with chrome ornaments, it showed she was part of one of the most popular cliques in the school—Organization XIII. They were formed by a group of nobodies, most with incredible talents, all for one purpose: to be rid the discrimination of nobodies all around the school. Because of their incredible talents, everyone sought out to be part of the group, not understanding their cause, but wanting in on the benefits. It just so happened they were having a meeting in that very hall.

But, of course, just because you stood up for a good cause, didn't mean that you were nice.

"Hm?" The girl perked up and spun around abruptly. "Aww, how cute." She cooed in a sweet tone, grabbing the other student's arm harshly and digging her nails into his skin. Roxas glared and tried to pull his arm away, which made her dig in harder. "That was very rude of you, assaulting an unexpected young lady. And for no reason!"

Roxas stared up quietly, trying to tug away best as he could. Alas, the odds were against him: Roxas was a small grade-eighter, and Larxene was a grade elevener who found amusement in torturing anyone who was below her in any way, shape or form.

"Oi, who'd 'ya pick up this time?" A senior with sandy hair put up in a fohawk leaned over and stared down at Roxas blandly. He, too, was wearing the same coat. "Its just some pipsqueak, Larxene, let him go. Not worth the battle."  
"Not until he learns some manners." Larxene brought up her free hand, extending her nails and swinging it down. Roxas shut his eyes and brought up his free arm to block the shot from his face, using her startled reaction to break free.

"I didn't mean to bump into you," he murmured, stumbling back. "I'm sorry."  
"That's better, but lessons need to be taught." Larxene narrowed her icy blue eyes down at the blonde and grabbed at him again. She caught part of his wrist, but he tore it away and stumbled back further. He looked down at it, analyzing the jagged scratches. He also took note of his watch: 10:40 a.m. Twenty minutes until the next period.

"The boy is fine, Larxene." Another boy, around Roxas' height with silvery-purple hair that covered up his right eye looked over the blonde vaguely. He shifted through a messenger bag and pulled out a black book labelled '8A'. "Roxas Hikari. Age fourteen, blonde hair, blue eyes. Blood type O. Startling in Language Arts and certain aspects of Physical Education and Social Studies. Failing in Math. Average grade B. Has a history of breaking off every relationship he makes for purposes unknown, therefore not very popular. His skills reside in agility and marked strikes, but he lacks in strength. Bisexual, apparently has a crush on VIII, though it's only a rumor." He snapped the book shut and replaced it. "It's deplorable, but he could very well be a Nobody."

Roxas was speechless, his face flushed pink in anger and embarrassment. Why did they know his marks in class, his sexuality, his friendship issues, but more importantly: Who was this… 8? No, no… It couldn't be…

The fohawked teen couldn't help but laugh. "We get the information on students from various sources."

"Why do you have it?!" Roxas asked with a glare, lunging for Zexion. He was cut off by a well-built arm, which made him stumble back. Six feet tall, at least, a brunette with short wavy hair and a strong build stood in his way. It made Roxas think of a bodyguard.

This is it, Roxas thought, I'm gonna die here.

However, the teen made no move towards him. "We have information on all the students and teachers in the school," came the curt reply from the Bodyguard.

"…Why?" Roxas asked again, crossing his arms. Once you got past the brawn, the bodyguard didn't seem that intimidating.

"Why're you asking so many questions, kid?" was the snide retort left from a pair of teen's lips. Just walking out of the locker room, his scarlet red hair was slightly damp, though spiky. His sharp green eyes looked over the shocked blonde with slight amusement. He was about as tall as the bodyguard, though not even close compared in build; he was rather lanky-looking, as if he didn't get enough food in his daily routine. His face sported a cat-like grin. "Hm, I like this kid. Can we keep him?"

"I do believe its up to the Superior…. But he won't mind this one." Zexion looked over Roxas, a ghost of a smile working over his face. Roxas just glared back.

"Keep? I'm not some pet."

"We didn't say that you were. Though a collar WOULD look good on you," the redhead commented in a tone that Roxas hoped was a joking one.

"Hopefully you're the only one who thinks so." Roxas muttered under his breath. The rumor about Axel and him was about as true as the sky being baby blue pink with yellow polka dots. Or, at least he hoped it was. Maybe the redhead's eyes just caused mini heart attacks with everyone he looked at. Yeah. That was it.

"Hey, hey, don't be so hostile, kid." Axel bent over, though not by much since his arms were extremely long anyhow, and ruffled the blonde's hair. "The name's Axel, got it me—"

"Memorized, committed to memory, A-X-E-L. Anything new?" Roxas asked dully. Hearing the blonde know most of his catch phrases made the redhead a little surprised, and the blonde thought he had the upper hand, until the elder teen burst out laughing.

"Mm, not really." He answered after a pause. This kid was just too much, he thought, he's just so…

Different? Unique? Weird? … Cute?

Yeah, that was it. He was cute.

The redhead's thoughts crashed back to reality when he heard the blonde speak again. His crystalline blue eyes hooded by his hair, he replied, "Roxas."

"Roxas?" Axel repeated to himself.

"Yeah. It's my name…?" Roxas explained slowly, as if the almost-six-foot teen above him was a mere five year old.

"Okay, Roxie."

"Just Roxas."

--------------

"Did you see the way he just stormed out like that?!" Repliku stood up from the lunchroom table he was sitting at and imitated Roxas' walking style, exaggerating the hand and leg movements as he rumbled in an annoyed tone, "Rrr, I'm an angry attention whore," The table laughed back at his attempts, which consisted of Kairi, Sora, Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie.

"We were only joking, he didn't have to take it so hard." Sora rolled his eyes. Above all nobodies, the one he probably detested the most was Roxas. He was always so negative, and when he wasn't, he was just a prude ass. It's hard to like someone like that, the brunette reasoned, so he didn't allow himself to and ignored the sting of guilt in the back of his heart.

"Yeah, that's like… one of you guys storming out because I called you fat." Kairi snorted. Sora laughed back hard, hitting his head against the table as he did so. "Because most of my belly region consists of fat rolls." He managed to say before continuing his laughter. Indeed, the brunette was rather thin.

"But seriously. If it wasn't true, he wouldn't have reacted like that. Odds are, he'd be laughing as much as you are." Tidus pointed out with a snide sort of noise before devouring his little tray of fries. Poor things never stood a chance.

"Since when does he laugh?" Repliku asked sarcastically, making the group burst out laughing.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter." His best friend wiped at an eye after getting over his laughing fit after many mental images of a ridiculously-overweight Sora. The brunette could feel the small amount of guilt building up at the table, and he wanted to change the subject anyhow.

That, and the fact that Roxas was approaching their table, a direct glare sent towards the brunette. He stared right back firmly, holding the blonde's gaze defiantly. The other students, now noticing something was up, turned around to see.

"You know I'm not deaf, right?" He asked them, arms crossed.

"Yes, what did you hear?" Repliku asked in a neutral tone. Roxas just glared back, knowing he couldn't say anything. He just shook his head. "Your group is pathetic, I can't believe I used to hang out with you." He started to walk off, but the retort received stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Peculiar words for someone who dumps their friends at the curb for no reason." However, the words did not pass through Repliku's lips, but Sora's. He didn't know much about Roxas, but from his best friend's words, he was heartless.

"You don't know what the hell happened between me and him, Sora, so just shut your mouth."

"Oh I know, alright." Sora snapped, pushing away from the table to walk up to Roxas. "You did this to Hayner and Pence and Olette, too. Hang out with them for a month, mooch as much as you can, and throw them away like broken toys. And now you're gonna throw me some sort of sob story? Please."

"Fuck you, Sora. You're so dense, you can't even figure out which way to go home after like, what, three years of coming to this school?"

"Shut up, I wasn't feeling right that day!" The brunette protested. By now, a small group of students had formed about the two, though they didn't notice.

"Sure you weren't. You were probably too lovesick over Repliku to notice." Roxas rolled his eyes.

"Don't talk to me about being lovesick, Mr 'Oh, I'm not in love with Axel, but I'll get all fired up over one simple remark that even _hints_ at us being together'."

"So you admit it, do you?"

Sora narrowed his eyes at the nobody. "At least I have the heart to do so."

Roxas stumbled back subtly as if the insult was actually a bullet that hit its mark. "Stereotypical bastards. That's all you are."

"Big words there, did Ms. Benedet teach the pet some new tricks?" Sora teased, crossing his arms. He knew it was mean, he knew it would probably hurt the blonde a lot later, heck, he knew it would hurt him later, but for now, it felt good.

Roxas was quiet for a small pause before looking up, the calm reply escaping his lips, "Sheep, blindly following the status quote. That's all you are." With that, he pushed between students to leave the lunch room. Roxas might have looked rather passive, and Sora might have looked rather triumphant at the moment, but they both felt like crying.

* * *

Marluxia is the best teacher in the world. You all have to agree with me on that one.


	4. Ch 3: Ice cream can only fix so much

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom hearts, Square Enix or Disney, nor am I getting any profit from writing this

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom hearts, Square Enix or Disney, nor am I getting any profit from writing this. Though I wish I was, god damnit these take a while to compose. Fun to write, though.

Hello my pretties, and welcome to another not-so-exciting episode of 'An Eerie Feeling'.

Thank you, once again, to all my lovely reviewers. Even if it's only six. I still got the chapter done, though. Really gotta learn how to get them done faster, though, but guess what! Next chapter is the party, whoot! No, not 'woot', whoot. Whoot sounds so much cooler. There were parts in this story that took me to hell and back to write, but I managed. Oh, and the 'In my pants' game. Anyone who can guess how it goes will get a free pairing drabble written by me. 8D

Also, I found an actual recipe for sea salt ice cream, see? Look: http /w ww.recipezaar. com /177919 Just get rid of the spaces. I've tried it a few times myself, and it's really good. (Don't worry, you'll get it when you're done reading.)

Hope you enjoy the next chapter.

* * *

"I have no soul." Sora hit his head against a chrome bar attached to the ceiling.

"Someone needed to teach that attention whore something, and you did." Repliku reasoned, leaning back on the orange-leather seat. It was almost unbearably hot, and Repliku liked it that way as he snuggled into it a little.

"Yeah, well, I still feel bad for it," the brunette retorted, "I feel like a bully now." The two were taking the bus home to Repliku's to 'study', in definition meaning, 'Play video games and watch stupid flashes on Repliku's laptop while pigging out on chips'.

"I thought you hated him." Repliku cocked a passive eyebrow at the brunette. The other student shook his head. "I know, but—" he was cut off as the bus slammed to a stop before squawking at an offending car ahead. It slowly pulled along once more.

"I know, but still. I'm Sora; I'm not supposed to be this sadistic." Sora reasoned with a pensive frown.

Repliku was quiet for a moment before leaning over and hugging the brunette reassuringly, something he did very rarely. "You did what you had to. Thanks for sticking up for me." He ruffled the brunette's hair and let go of his friend.

"Alright, alright, I get it." Sora rolled his eyes and smacked away the older teen's hands. Soon, there was nothing to talk about, and there was a long, silent pause.

"….Zombie in my pants." Repliku said casually, making a so-called 'Goth' chick sitting in a seat across from him with a slurpee choke on her drink.

"Hm…. Baby got back in my pants." Sora grinned a little at his friend. A girl with orange hair and a red coat sitting beside the Goth chick smiled partly at the remark in humor.

"Poor unfortunate souls in my pants."

"Love like winter in my pants?"

Repliku shook his head. "Naw, that one doesn't work." He tapped his lips. "Hm…

Dirty little secrets in my pants."

The girl with orange hair spoke up. "Milk and cereal in my pants." Upon hearing that, the two looked at her weirdly.

"That isn't a song." Sora pointed out slowly.

"It is, it's on Youtube." The girl nodded fervently. Repliku gave a hesitant shrug and they continued the game.

"This is Halloween in my pants." Sora smirked a little as if it were the best joke in the world.

"The worrying kind in my pants." Repliku retorted, crossing his arms with a grin.

"Oh, oh! Soulja boi in my pants!" the girl cried, not really caring that it was their game. Sora blinked dumbly and looked at his friend, who had a challenging look on his face. He 'OHHhhh'ed to add effect.

"Cartoon heroes in my pants."

"Come clean in my pants."

"Bodies in my pants."

"This is Sparta in my pants!" Sora cried triumphantly. The girl and Repliku looked between each other.

"I think he's got us beat." The redhead said with a laugh.

"I agree."

Sora looked out the window and blinked dumbly before standing up suddenly. "Crap we missed our stop!" He rang the bell quickly and Repliku stood up with him. The older student waved at the girl quickly and followed Sora out the door. The girl smiled a little, and as the bus rolled on, she noticed a brown wallet with what seemed to be an x'd out heart on it. She picked up the leather article and analyzed it.

"Ah…so this is his."

--

"I can't believe I left my wallet on the bus!" The platinum blonde wailed at school the next day, slamming his head against the desk. His eyes opened wide in pain and he pulled back quickly, laughing and cursing at the same time at how stupid he was.

"It's alright, Repli, you'll find it." Sora smiled a little. "Your school I.D. was in it, remember?"

"Yeah, and fifty dollars, and a gift card to HMV, and a gift card to Chapters." The student groaned back. "They probably saw my face and went, 'lol, dork' and threw the wallet in a puddle after they raided it."

Kairi ruffled her angsty companion's hair to comfort him, which really didn't help at all. "It'll turn up. We'll go to Churchill station after to see if it's at the lost and found."

"Alright class, that was the bell," Mr. Leonheart walked into the classroom and set down a small pile of books. "Kairi, you're the morning leader this week, right?" He waved his hand at the girl. She perked up and smiled back a little. "Mmhm." She stood up and walked to the front of the class, a clipboard in hand. "Alright, so we have L.A., double social, gym in the morning, and topic notes for Science today are due…"

"Wait, there was _homework_?!" Tidus and Sora paled as they looked at each other. The class burst out laughing.

"Yup." Kairi nodded with a giggle as she checked something off. "Does anyone have any permission forms to hand in? Sex Ed. Forms, the field trip for that 'Annie' play at Vic?" A few students perked up to hand things up to the front.

Indeed, school was rather boring, but the class was muddled with excitement, because on Saturday, they were invited to a party at Tidus' house. Of course, 'all' did not include nobodies, so Roxas was in as just a dull mood as ever.

After the national anthem, and a few random announcements from the principal, the class flooded out to approach the first class: LA. The hallways were packed with other classes flooding out of the rooms, not at all in a hurry to get to the next class for whatever reason.

Roxas sighed quietly as he slid his Language Arts textbook into his messenger bag. He perked up when he saw a familiar redhead pass by, flashing a small smile at him. The blonde sheepishly smiled back, and he stood up completely before walking down the hallway with an expression of content. Sora and Repliku looked at each other, then back at Roxas as he passed, and continued walking.

"Good morning Ms. Benedet." Roxas greeted the teacher, sliding his bag beside his designated desk. A woman with short, brunette hair that curled into her face in an appealing manner looked up from the teacher's desk. The subtle wrinkles lining her visage spoke of wisdom and kindness, clearly stating that she was about forty years of age. She was dressed in a pale blue blouse with black dress pants and a vest. "Good morning, Roxas."

Soon after, the rest of the class flooded into the classroom, chattering aimlessly about things that didn't really matter in the big scheme of things. Ms. Benedet was quiet, waiting for them to follow suit. It took seven minutes before the class was completely settled.

"Seven minutes." Ms. Benedet frowned. "We have five classes together a week. If it takes you seven minutes to get settled, you've wasted thirty five minutes a week. Think about what you could have been doing in those thirty five minutes, perhaps finished off the majority of that homework that you all complain about so very much."

The class was silent, aside from a few subtle stares of annoyance at the teacher. She didn't notice, and if she did, she didn't care. "Last class we took a quiz on figurative speech. The results were… To be blunt, awful." She handed back the quizzes to the class. Roxas, of course, got fifteen out of fifteen. He smiled a little bit and stuck it into his binder before looking around the room. Half of the class looked like they were about to die, the other half looked generally pleased.

"Therefore, we will be having a rewrite on Figurative Language next class. For now, flip back to the figurative speech handout I gave you on Tuesday." The class did as told, the rustling of paper echoing throughout the classroom.

"It's an assignment, at the bottom of the page." She stated. "You have to write a story that begins, 'Once upon a time, not that long ago'. It must consist of four chapters—" the classroom burst into a murmur of excitement and dread, but she continued anyway, "And you have until May to finish it off. Then, you may present your novels. It also has to have a cover, and a summary. This project takes up 20 percent of your grade—" Yet another loud groan from the class, "And will replace the Language Arts final.

Roxas smiled a little and got straight to work with the little amount of paper that he had. He was lost in his work, making little jot notes on the side of his binder to mark down terms for things. He looked around the classroom and smirked as he picked out names. _Sora, Kairi,… Let's change Repliku to Riku. Just for the hell of it. Me, Axel … Hm. That should be enough till later._

"I need someone to hand out these papers to the class." Ms. Benedet held out a stack of newsletters. Only a few people looked up, including Sora. Ms. Benedet handed the smaller brunette the stack of paper and he eagerly went about, handing them to random people. When he passed Roxas' desk, he took a peek at what he was writing and scowled, but gave him a sheet nevertheless. Roxas could feel the wave of tension as Sora walked by, but kept brainstorming nevertheless. He had an idea planned for quite sometime now. Another idea popped into his head, however, and he began to write on that.

At another corner of the room, a certain brunette was talking to his friends.

"He was writing our names down," the student murmured with a frown.

"How many were there?" Repliku asked while writing down ideas. His friend's brow scrunched down in concentration.

"Um… There was me, Kairi, …He spelt it 'Riku', but I think he meant you," the brunette didn't notice the visible flinch Repliku made and continued talking, "And… him. And Axel I think."

Repliku nodded sagely, "Well it's not some hit list, if he's on it... Sora, just… don't bother yourself with these things and get to work. You have enough trouble in Language arts as is."

To those absorbed in their work, the block was too short. To those who had no idea what they were doing, the block was too long. But, long or short, it was over. Next was Social. Some were excited, some were not; there was never a class that every single person in their class liked, but that was to be expected. They made their way up to room eleven, where Marluxia taught. It took them just as long to get settled down as it did in L.A., but Marluxia did not explode over it. He simply leaned against the classroom desk, waiting until they went quiet.

When they finally caught on, Marluxia pushed off of the desk, clapping,

"Congratulations, class, you've just wasted fifteen minutes of this block." The class burst into sarcastic applause and cheering. The student teacher waited until they silenced before continuing, "Which, by the way, would have gone to preparing for this assignment. Once again, congratulations." This time, no one clapped. Wonder why.

"Good, I have you attention. So this assignment, I think you'll all like." The pinkish-brunette picked up a single stack of paper from his desk and flipped through it. "We finished the last chapter, which was 'returning to old routes', so we're going to look into a few articles. I've split you up into groups already so there isn't any fuss. What you're going to do is you're going to read the article, take notes, and then you'll meet up with other groups' members to hear what they had to say about it."

"Dude, we're totally not gonna be together." Repliku whispered to his 'partner in crime', who just laughed. "God, Repliku, I thought you were smarter than that." Sora was kind of glad that he wasn't going to be with his friend in this one, since the two worked about as good as peanut butter and pickles when it came to actually doing the work. Sometimes it was good; sometimes it was just… not. Regardless, Sora didn't end up with his friends.

Soon, the class was over. Many people were happy to be let out of the semi-stuffy classroom, and others were dreading the next class: gym.

"The clock is warm and everything is fii-iine," Sora sang while he swung around a thick pipe in the middle of the room, waiting for Repliku to get ready. "You're so slow, Ku, hurry u—"

"Do NOT call me that!" his silver haired friend cried, throwing a t-shirt at the brunette who so gracefully caught it on his face. Sora huffed in annoyance and stuffed the shirt down his own for some odd reason. "Hah. It's mine now."

"Not that I'd want it anymore, it's got Sora particles on it." The other student retorted, digging through a bag beside him to pull on his shirt. The brunette turned away quickly; for some reason, watching his friend getting changed sent shivers down his spine.

"You should be honoured that this pathetic article of clothing has _my _particles on them. Consider it a gift." He threw it back at Repliku, who caught it with his finger and laughed.

"Hah, got it back." Sora gaped at the older teen, who simply walked out of the locker room. He poked his head back in and said in a high-pitched, sassy sort of tone, "You're so slow, Brownie, hurry up."

His response was a shirt to the face.

--

"Alright kids, we don't got much time 'til the Winston Showcase, so we gotta get crackin' on this, which is why basketball is gonna be cancelled for the next month." The gym teacher announced. The class was about to erupt in another one of their 'drama' fits, but the teacher cut them off before they could start. "HEY, I'M STILL TALKING HERE!" it left the class silent. The gym teacher bellowed. Everyone stopped silent. The teacher was a semi-burly man with short, blonde hair and slight stubble. He was chewing on a toothpick. Of course he had a last name, but everyone called him Cid. He cleared his throat. "We're cancelling basketball so we have time to prepare for the stuntnastic routines. Y'all can decide your songs and stuff later, this class is gonna be used so y'all can practice gymnastic… stunts, or whatever the hell you guys're gonna do. There's mats in the corner, get them set up and get in your groups." He clapped two times and stood up from the chair he was at. Immediately, the class flooded into smaller crowds. Repliku and Sora immediately locked hands, the gesture silently screaming, 'we're together and there's nothing you can do about it'. Kairi and Selphie quickly added onto the cling.

"Okay, we need two more people… Hey Tidus!" Kairi called to the blonde. He perked up and ran towards the group.

"One more for this group!" Sora called out, but no one answered. Everyone had already joined groups, that is, except for Roxas. But Sora, and the majority of the group, would rather have an awkward pyramid than have the blonde in their group.

"So, Sora, show us what you can do." They were all sitting in a circle on a square of mats. Sora smiled confidently before getting down on the ground and doing a somersault that had him on his side in the end. There was an awkward silence before the small knit of friends erupted into applause. Sora stood up and took a bow before sitting down. "But yeah, that's all I can do. Unless I'm on a trampoline. Then I pwn." The brunette nodded with a smug grin. Repliku laughed back. Sora frowned and stood up, Repliku following suit. The brunette made an effort to get into his friend's face. "You think it's funny? Lemme see you do better."

"You're goin' down, ho'." Repliku poked Sora in the chest, making him gasp over-dramatically. He stepped back to let his friend have some room to do whatever it was he was going to do. The other teen stepped back a few paces, bouncing on his heels, before taking off in one, two cartwheels, before flipping forward and landing on his feet.

"Pwned." Repliku said with a smirk.

"Not quite." Kairi stood up quickly. The group 'Ooooh'ed. Repliku took a step back, a confident smirk on his face. No one could beat that.

Kairi took a few stretches, making sure the muscles in her legs were ready to go, before she stood up. She started with a front flip, moved into a couple of one-handed cartwheels, and ended in a backflip, making hardly a sound.

"That, my friend, is how you do it." The auburn-haired girl patted Repliku on the shoulder. He flushed slightly in annoyance. "Show off."

"Hypocrite." She retorted with a smirk, reaching up to ruffle at the older teen's hair. Repliku stopped her wrists, however, and landed a small peck on her nose. Sora, a little embarrassed and annoyed by it, turned away to fake conversation with Tidus.

"Aww, you're jealous," his silver-haired friend cooed from behind, pulling on the brunette's cheeks. Sora smacked his hands away playfully and murmured, "So what if I am?" very quietly under his breath. Repliku blinked.

"What'd you say?" He asked, bewildered. Sora just laughed and punched the elder teen in the arm. "Nothing, you dork."

Everyone in the gym went silent when the intercom crackled before someone spoke.

"Roxas Hikari, please come to the east hall. Thank you." The intercom clicked off.

Everyone stared at the boy weirdly, but Roxas just ignored them and walked out of the gym. He was too focused on why anyone would want him in the east hall, and he wasn't too sure he wanted to figure out the answer.

--

"Hello?" The blonde walked down the empty, dully-lit hall hesitantly. His footsteps echoed back in response. He frowned a little, immediately putting up his guard. He scanned the halls for any signs of living matter, and his eyes locked onto a small, black bundle on the floor in the center of the room. He ran over to it and hesitantly picked it up, and, noticing that it had a note attached, plucked it off to read it.

_Congratulations, XIII, _

_Welcome to the Organization._

_P.S. _

_There's a nice little collar in there for ya, too. _

"…No way…" Roxas frowned, puzzled. "It's not for me." Assuming that it wasn't his to take, he bent down to put it on the ground, but was stopped when someone in the hall spoke up.

"No, no, it's for you! I told you he wouldn't know!"

"Hey, that's not my fault, I thought he'd be smarter than that." Roxas frowned a little and stood up straight. "Show yourselves."

With a laugh, the two stumbled out from behind two very figure-fitting potted trees.

"Sorry, XIII, we were gonna use your name, but Superior says we're not allowed." The Mohawked teen pouted a little, almost falsely.

"Which is why I put the collar thing, but I guess you weren't smart enough to get it." The spiked-back redhead teased, putting his hands on his hips. "Though there _is _a collar in there, if ya want to wear it." Roxas' face flushed in embarrassment and he crossed his arms. "No wait,… Why're you guys calling me thirteen? I'm fourteen, F.Y.I."

"Not your age, stupid, it's your number!" Demyx cried, throwing up his arms in slight annoyance.

"Number…?" the blonde inquired, still confused. Then something clicked: They referred to a person as 8 in that report on him. If Axel was 8, maybe… "No way. I didn't even ask to be part of this." Roxas refused with a frown, handing the package back to the redhead. The nobody frowned back in response.

"You don't have a choice," he answered, "whether you wish to or not, you're part of the Organization now." Axel gave the bundle of black back to the smaller nobody.

"No, I'm not," he contradicted, shoving the article of clothing back against the older redhead's chest. "Give the position to someone who wants it." Without another word said, he began to walk down the hallway.

"Oh, Roxas, don't be like that. You know you want to." The redhead's lips quirked into a cocky grin, but he made no attempt to go after the blonde.

"You want to belong, Roxas." The words stopped said teen dead in his tracks, as if the words spoken had pierced through his chest. Pensive was the silence followed, the blonde going over his decisions. On the one hand, this could just be some pathetic set-up. Organization XIII could be very ruthless when it came to that sort of thing, and Roxas didn't doubt that they would pull something off like this for fun. It would be just another thing for 8A to jeer at him for. On the other hand, belonging, being wanted in a group was the only thing he wished for, deep down and he knew it. Not to _ask_ to be wanted and accepted, but to_ be_ wanted. There were also the smaller bits; being part of the most popular group in the school could have its benefits, and would probably gain him more respect in school. Plus, the standard trench coat was just cool.

"Could you at least let me have some time to think it over?" Roxas asked, annoyed by the last-minute request. Axel chuckled.

"Consideration is better than refusal." In other words, yes. Roxas nodded once, and was about to walk off again before the once-unwanted bundle of cloth was thrown at the back of his head. It bounced off awkwardly and landed with a muffled 'fwump!' on the floor. The blonde slowly turned around and looked at the cloth, a very pressurized silence passing between the three. Roxas' eyes scrunched up a little and he erupted in a fit of laughter, doubling over on his knees. Demyx and Axel looked at each other, each attempting to keep a straight face, before they broke down and joined in the laughter.

Roxas covered his mouth and made himself frown. Demyx and Axel followed suit. They were so focused in keeping a straight face that the three were almost sneering at each other. The hallway was silent for another four seconds before they couldn't handle it anymore and sputtered into obnoxious cackles once again.

"I-…I have another question…" Roxas' words trailed off from a breathy sort of giggle as he spoke, "why'd you guys put this much effort into telling me I was part of the Organization?"

Axel and Demyx looked at each other and shrugged. "A'unno," the sandy blonde replied with a sort of half smile. "who cares, we had fun with it."

"So…can I go back to gym now?" Roxas asked, slightly awkwardly in the dead-quiet hall. He was missing stuntnastic time for this…

"Well it all depends. Have you made your decision yet?" Axel asked, leaning down and grinning at the eighth-grader. Roxas blinked back, shocked and annoyed.

"You said you'd give me time to consider!"

"We did! Like, just now!" Axel cried back in the same whiny tone, throwing his hands out erratically.

"Well then fine, I'm in then! Whatever!"

--

"Hoot," Was the first thing that passed through Sora's lips as they exited the school ground. Repliku gave him a weird look. "Where did that come from?"

"Your mom."

"Because that was mature." Repliku retorted, rolling his eyes as they reached the bus stop. Sora, who was too lazy to walk, also followed. Repliku gave a sigh. It was a pity that there were no convenience stores about, he could really do for some ice cream.

"Perhaps a drumstick," he mused, which gave him a nostalgic feeling as memories flooded back to him as he even thought about the taste, most of which were spent with his older brother.

"_Oh come on, don't cry," he knelt down to face a little boy with feather-layered silver hair whom was sitting on a park bench, staring at his knee which sported a rather nasty-looking scrape. He let out a wet sniffle. The older of the two let out a slightly annoyed groan. "People are staring, Replica…" When the boy would not respond, however, his shoulders slumped and he sighed. Looking up in the little boy's eyes, he smiled slightly. _

"_Tell you what; if you can beat me to the crosswalk, I'll get you a Drumstick at the Moose Store." _

_The child, whom only looked about six or seven years old, gave yet another wet sniffle, eyes shaded by his silvery-blue-ish hair. Slowly, he slumped off of the park bench, staring at the ground in an almost sad way while he walked, before he took off at breakneck speed. _

"_H-hey, no fair!" _

_The brother kept at a slower speed, however, letting the little one win the race to the crosswalk._

"_R-Replica, you gotta stop going so fast… You know I can't keep up." The elder brother panted, fake doubling over his knees while they waited for the crosswalk to change. The little brother laughed.  
_

"_It's not my fault you're a slowpoke! And my name's Riku, not Replica!" _

"_Yeah, well so's mine. Which is why _you're_ called Replica. Cause I came first. So there." The elder brother stuck out his tongue at the smaller one as they walked across the street._

"The drumstick man is my sex goddess." Nostalgic feeling gone.

"Shut up, Sora." Repliku rolled his eyes as he boarded the bus, paying the 2.25 necessary for riding. He took a seat near to the back, once again relishing in the searing-hot seats. He was just about to drift off into a sort of cat-nap when something was tossed in his lap. He peeped an eye open only to come face-to-face with his wallet. He sat up straight and flipped through the belongings before looking up.

"You left it here yesterday, remember?" It was the girl from before. She gave a cocky sort of grin before walking back to the front of the bus, not giving the boy time to reply. Repliku just blinked and turned back to his best friend, who shrugged.

"You excited for Tidus' party?" the brunette asked, changing the subject.

"Well who wouldn't be? Did you get them gifts?" his friend inquired. Sora looked confused.

"No, I didn't think Selphie and Kairi would need gifts for passing an exam." He paled. "Wait, is everyone getting them gifts?"

"Take a look at the invitation again."

It took a while for Sora to dig through his bag and pull out the now-crumpled piece of cardstock. Repliku tutted, but said nothing about the poor paper's condition as he pointed to the bottom of the invitation.

_P.S. _

_This party's actually a sort of 'congratulations' to Kairi and Selphie for getting into grade eight. Keep it a secret._

_P.P.S._

_How 'bout you guys get them like, a gift or something? _

"Crap!" Sora's eyes widened in panic. He grabbed onto Repliku's shoulders and began to shake them. "Repliku, what am I gonna do?! I'm gonna look like a jerk if I don't have something for them!"

"Just-buy-them-some-thi—"

"I don't have any money!"

"Then-why-don't-you-make-them-some-thi-ing?" Sora stopped shaking him.

"Like what?"

"Fuck, I don't know, cookies?" He suddenly perked up. "How 'bout you make them that really good ice cream, oh god what's it called again, salt taffy ice cream?"

"Sea salt ice cream! Ku, you're a genius!" He cried, giving said genius a blow to the back. The elder teen let out a loud cough as the wind was knocked out of him, but Sora didn't notice. He was too busy showering his friend with praise. It was then he realized that this was his stop, rang the bell, and said goodbye to his still-breathless friend. After all, he needed to get home so he could get started right away.

--

We find our main protagonist nestled in the kitchen of his home, pulling ingredients and whatnot from the places they hid. He did not cook often, and it evidently showed by the frilly pink apron shaped like a heart for the top half, which was clearly not his.

Secretly though, he liked wearing it. It made him feel, for a lack of better words, pretty, as weird as it sounded. Though he'd never admit to it out loud.

"Four eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, whipping cream, sea salt, and food coloring, check. Bowls, beater, cups, spoons, pot, got it." Sora gave an affirmative nod as he looked over the ingredients and equipment laid out overtop the dishwasher. He turned back to the recipe and read over the directions before turning to a cereal bowl and cracking an egg overtop, separating the yolk from the white with only a small amount of difficulty. He repeated this step with the rest of the eggs.

"Beat egg whites until stiff, set aside. Add egg yolks with sugar until thick." He completed each step with automatic precision, having done this recipe a couple of times already.

He filled the pot with four cups of milk and set it to medium heat. While he was waiting for it to boil, he heard a camera 'clu-click' and directed his attention to the doorway, where his sister stood swinging a camera on its lanyard.

"My my, won't Repliku just _love_ this." She teased, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder.

"Hey! Give that back! Yuna!" Sora jumped for the camera, but she pulled it out of his reach. "I'd rather not. Besides, you wouldn't want your kissy-wissy-tickly-tummy to miss out on this Kodak moment, would you?"

"Why does everyone have it in their mindset that me and Repliku are the next big fling?!" he exclaimed in frustration, trying to grab at her arm to make her let go.

"Simple: because you are." Yuna gave her little brother a teasing poke to the chest before walking out of the kitchen. "Nice apron, by the way."

Sora looked down at the frilly apron and flushed in embarrassment. "There weren't any others!" He defended weakly.

"Yet, there's a perfectly good white one right here." She walked back into the kitchen and whipped out the apron, which read 'flaming' in fiery letters.

"I'd rather be wearing frills than _that_!" Sora snapped, gesturing his hand to the dialogue sharply.

"Really? I think it mirrors your personality." With a cackle, she ran upstairs, just barely dodging the tin measuring cup thrown her way.

With a sigh, the more-than-annoyed brunette turned back to the stove. By now, the milk had reached a decent boil, so he removed it from the stovetop onto a different element. He put the yolk and egg mixture in a bigger bowl before pouring the hot milk into it, mixing the concoction until it reached a creamy yellow. He transferred it to the pot, and, making sure to turn down the heat a little, replaced it back on the element.

Fifteen minutes into steadily watching the mixture, stirring, and making sure it wouldn't boil, he took a look at the recipe. "Now, it says to get it to a custard consistency..." He spooned some of the soupy mixture and let it fall to the pot once more. "It never GETS to a custard consistency… Whatever, I guess this is good enough." He took the bowl off of the element and poured the mix into the beaten egg whites and stirred it up best he could, though the egg white seemed to be floating over the surface instead of mixing with the concoction. "This always happens."

He reached for the salt and dashed a coin-sized handful into the creamy-looking mix before stirring and taking a small taste.

"Hm, something certainly smells good," came his mother's observing voice, the front door opening to announce her arrival. Sora perked up.

"I'm making sea salt ice cream, mom! Come try it!"

As asked, his mother walked into the kitchen and gave a playful smile. "I think your ice cream needs a bit of…how should I say… form? What's it for?" She eyed the soupy mix on the dishwasher with slight uncertainty. Her mom was a Miss Risa Hikari. It was evident where Sora got his chestnut hair from, as it fell down to the small of her back. Her eyes were a hazel color, and she was dressed in a navy two-piece and white blouse. Her face held its share of wrinkles. To her, they were a sign of wisdom, and Sora respected her for that and many other things.

"Oh, it always does that." Sora rolled his eyes. "Just try it, I need to know if we need more salt in it. And it's a present for Kairi and Selphie for that party I'm going to tomorrow."

His mother complied, taking a bit of the mix into her mouth before giving her son the thumbs-up. "If I were not a grown adult, I'd probably take that bowl to my room and secretly devour it. However, I have more composure than that." She paused before taking in another scoop of it.

"Mom!"

"Its fine, honey." She sat up on the counter, a rather un-motherly thing to do. "I got a call from my sister today."

"Your sister? That's great!" Sora exclaimed as he put the mix into the freezer to cool faster. Riku Hikari was the twin to Risa Hikari, much with the same looks except for their difference in hairstyles. They were nothing alike in personality or life situation, however, and though Risa talked about her often, they hadn't heard from each other in fourteen years.

"She's been tracking me for ages, apparently, and she and her son need a place to stay until things get back on track."

"She has a cousin? That's cool." Sora said with a smile as he took a 'seat' next to his mother. It was nice to meet new people. "When are they coming?"

"A week from now, Friday. You'll be sharing a room with him. From what I heard though, he's an absolute sweetheart."

"Really? What's his name?" The teen asked. Risa's brows furrowed. "I don't remember, I think it started with an 'R', though."

"Nice. You can't even remember your own nephew's name." Sora rolled his eyes.

"Not that you're any better, of course." Risa rolled her eyes right back. It was a trait they'd somehow picked up on each other. She surveyed the kitchen with a slight frown. She leaned over beside Sora.

"Hey Sora, guess what?" she whispered in his ear. He leaned over and whispered back a, "What?"

"I need room to cook supper."

"Oh. Well good luck on getting that, I'm going upstairs to finish my homewor—ack!" the brunette was cut off as she slipped a finger into the collar of his shirt when he tried to run off. "Well you can work on homework after you've finished cleaning the kitchen." She gave his back a small pat, as if to say 'well, get to it.'.

In the time it took to complete the kitchen clean up, Sora had reached a conclusion: The worst way to end the day, good or bad, was to be put on kitchen duty.

* * *

OHMYGWAD. That took a while. Reviews make the chapters come faster, my lovelies!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: HELLO MY DEAR, DEDICATED READERS!

...IF THERE WERE ANY!  
PERHAPS NOT, BUT THAT IS NOT THE POINT!

So um, I've been on a haitus for quite some time and I guess it's at the point where I should be asking: does anyone actually want me to continue with these? Because as whiny as this sounds, I don't want to continue on with something if people don't want to read it. So, sorry for making you all go "YEAHWOOHOO", but I need to know. Work is already being done on all of these fanfictions, but I don't want to continue on something if people don't want me to.

So, please leave a review if you want me to continue! ;w; I'm not asking for a review on the story, just... if you could tell me you'd like to see me continue work on this, please let me know! 'w' Even if you've never left a review before, don't be afraid about it! I just wanna hear that you want me to keep going is all! ;w;

Love you all to bits,

o/\o


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